Aaron Huey@argonautphoto

SOUND ON: “The petroglyphs and pictographs are like a library to the Pueblo community... just like if you go to a library to get a book, you learn about history... it’s constant learning from our ancestors.” Octavius Seowtewa, Zuni medicine man. This panel in #BearsEarsNationalMonument, Utah goes by many names and contains hundreds of symbols from birds to spiritual beings, a snake or water, ways of counting, objects and tools used in daily life and more. Part of a @NatGeo project with @devlin_gandy that is ongoing. This is not video, it’s a tour through a massive digital model created from thousands of photographs, using a technique called #photogrammetry. #PublicLands

FLASH PRINT SALE! Link in header! I’m making a few prints from my past National Geographic magazine stories available! $100 for 10” signed fine art prints. This series is all from my assignment in Denali National Park for our February 2016 issue. This image is of The Pioneer Ridge on Denali emerging from clouds. I’ve also thrown in a few other super limited items from my personal stash of collaborations and books. Link: aaronhuey.bigcartel.com/products

FLASH SALE for the next 5 days! Link in header! For one week only I’m making a few prints from my past National Geographic magazine stories available! $100 for 10” signed fine art prints. This series is all from my assignment in Denali National Park for our February 2016 issue. Slide 1: A wolf from the Nenana River Pack racing its shadow in the early morning light, Slide 2: A young Grizzly in Fall technicolor reds and yellows, Slide 3: The Pioneer Ridge of Denali emerging from clouds. I’ve also thrown in a few super limited items from my personal stash of collaborations with Shepard Fairey and more. Link: aaronhuey.bigcartel.com

Follow along in my IG story highlights! This photo is almost 20 yrs old and shot on slide film! I first tried climbing Moses in the #CanyonLands of Utah in college with one of my best friends, Drew Ludwig. We got snowed off and we both returned to try again a couple years later. That attempt saw a massive fall on the sketchy first pitch and an arm injury that sent us packing. Now, almost 20 years later, I’m in terrible shape, Drew seems fairly ready, and we’re not getting any younger, so we are hoping the third time is a charm today! Self portrait of my shoes and a baby Drew.

Sharing my climb of this incredible tower today in my IG story highlights. I first tried climbing Moses in the #CanyonLands of Utah almost 20 years ago in college with one of my best friends, Drew Ludwig. We got snowed off and we both returned to try again a couple years later. That attempt saw a massive fall on the sketchy first pitch and an arm injury that sent us packing. Now, almost 20 years later, I’m in terrible shape, Drew seems fairly ready, and we’re not getting any younger, so we are hoping the third time is a charm today! Follow along in my IG story highlights.

My cover story in the current issue of National Geographic - about the battle over Public lands in the American West - is one of the most complex stories I’ve ever covered. The issue (Nov) is still on news stands for this week only I think. The cast of characters are all deeply entrenched and have wildly divergent views of what “Public” means. This is not a new fight, it just has a new piece on the board, as the current administration aims to please its voter base and extractive industries by undoing large areas of National Monuments established by Democrats, specifically the Dec 2017 reduction of Escalante by 50% and Bears Ears by 85% (both in Utah). Some in the surrounding areas of the National Monuments we covered for this story think “public” means “local public” and would prefer not to see the larger "general public" show up in large numbers. Indigenous people in the region think the larger public stole it a long time ago and are fighting for protection of sacred sites in places like Bears Ears. Some think “public” means that resource extraction should remain an option to benefit the public's need for lumber, oil and gas, coal, and uranium. The one thing that is certain, after covering 3 National Monuments, is that it wont likely be resolved in this generation, and that it is being inflamed by the current Culture War.

Climbing out the end of Zebra slots in #EscalanteNationalMonument, Utah. Last December the larger Monument was shrunk by around %50 and split into 3 smaller units by Executive Order. These slots, carved over thousands of years by water in red and white striped sandstone, were not removed but the trail to get to them, and the larger buffer area around them was. This opens the area for potential resource extraction in the future. Shot on assignment for @natgeo magazine for the current cover story (Nov).

The slot canyons of Escalante National Monument tell a tale of time, in waves of red sandstone, like no other. Looking up at the sky through Zebra, shot on assignment for @NatGeo photographing the slot canyons in Southern Utah. Im out here photographing sites that were recently removed or otherwise affected when the Monument was shrunk by around %50 and split into 3 smaller units by Executive Order. These slots were not removed but the trail to get to them, and the larger buffer area around them were removed opening the area for potential resource extraction. Watch my IG story feed in the coming days for video and stills from these slots!

The Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Summer gathering, where 5 tribes came together to celebrate the National Monument they helped bring into existence. #BearsEars has become a symbol of Indigenous solidarity and resistance far beyond the tribes of the South West as groups from coast to coast come together to protect sacred spaces. In this image the James brothers from the Lummi tribe in the Pacific NorthWest are honored for bringing a gift of sacred Bear totem to the Inter-Tribal coalition. To learn more about the Indigenous connection to the Monument and to submit your comments on the situation please check out @protectbearsears and the link in their header.

Watch for the handprints on the ceiling! This is a virtual model (made up of thousands of photographs stitched together into a virtual object) of Ancestral Pueblo granaries on Cedar Mesa, in what was formerly #bearsearsnationalmonument in Utah. This looks like video but it’s actually #photogrammetry. This project to create scientifically accurate models for conservation and education was created with my partner @devlin_gandy and made possible by a grant from @insidenatgeo. These experiences can be shifted to provide ways for elders to visit Ancestral sites, for kids in urban areas to learn about other cultures and times through VR in the classroom, and the models themselves can be used by archaeologists around the world to study changes over time and to create accurate measurements virtually. We also hope to use these to educate the public about the importance of these cultural heritage sites without them having to visit in person when they are either too sensitive or too remote to access. Important note: we did not enter these structures, we used small cameras with lights on poles to create the images that were stitched to firm the interiors. Never enter a structure like these if you happen upon them! For more about Bears Ears checkout my current cover story in @natgeo magazine! And for more info about site etiquette and how to #VisitWithRespect visit @cedarmesafriends.

SOUND ON! This is a small sample clip of a 360 experience we built as part of my current cover story in @natgeo magazine (Nov). You are looking at a perfectly preserved Kiva in #BearsEarsNationalMonument, Utah, with storytelling by @marlon.magdalena from Jemez Pueblo. You can find the link to the full interactive version of this in the link in my header (first download the “YouTube” app to view it and after clicking the link be sure to then click “open app” at the top). While this looks like a video, the world you move through is actually a virtual model that takes you into the various rooms of the 800-1000 year old dwelling and ceremony room of this Ancestral Pueblo site. (From the BLM: While this includes a digital simulation of a fire inside the Kiva, building fires within cultural resource sites on public lands is illegal and can damage the integrity of the site). My partner in this project was @devlin_gandy and we were able to make this experience thanks to funding from @insidenatgeo and National Geographic magazine, and the video with the help of @max.salomon from @blackdotfilmsvr! LINK IN HEADER! Special thanks to our field producer and cultural advisor Kevin Madalena (@jemezscientist_occamschainsaw)! We couldn’t have done it without you! #photogrammetry